Method of constructing horizontal pianofortes



FREDERICK C. REICHENBACH,l OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD 0F CONSTRUCTING HORIZONTAL PIANOFORTES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 2,099, dated May 19, 1841.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK C. REICH- ENBACH, of the' city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented cer-l tain Improvements in the Manner of Con' structing Pianofortes, which improved instrument I denominate the American Grand Illing-Piano; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and/exact description thereof.

-My improvements consist first in the manner in which I have combined the wrest pins by which the instrument is tuned, with the wrest pin block and the bridge upon which the wires rest, and over which they are strained; and secondly in an improved manner in forming and arranging braces of wrought iron for counteracting and sustaining the tension of the strings; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

As regards the action of the hammers..

upon the strings of piano fortes, there are two principal varieties in the mode of conf structing these instruments.l In the ordinary horizontal piano, the hammers are placed below the strings, and when, by the action of the keys, the'hammers are made to strike upon said strings, the tendency of the-blow is to raise the string which is struck, from the bridge over which it is strained, and to produce, from this cause, an undecided and impure tone. In' the second variety of piano fortes this defect is obviatedby placing the hammers 'above the strings, and causing them, when acted upon by the keys, to strike down upon the wires and thus to force them against the bridge; in effecting this, however an arrangement of considerable complexity has been found necessary( which is not only costly, but much more liable to get out of order than that first described; the hammer also, under this second arrangement does not tend by its position and gravity, to escapefrom the string directly after striking it, vbut must be compelled so to do by theparticular construction of the action.` In my improved piano forte the hammers are placed below .the strings as in the variety rst named, but the bridge upon which thewires are susi tained is placed below the wrest pin block,

and the blows of the hammers force the v wires, therefore, against the bridge, -as in the second variety. I am aware that an-arrangement similar 1nl character to this, so

far as the foregoing description extends, has been heretofore essayed, but it appears that the manner of constructing the apparatus was not such as to afford satisfactory results, and the-plan was abandoned. I do not claim therefore to be the first, to have made the hammers of piano fortes to strike vbelow strings which are sustained by. a bridge placed above them, but I limit my` claims to the novel and particular manner in -which I have combined and arranged the parts by which I accomplish this object.

In Figure 1 in the accompanying drawing a, a, is the wrest pin block and b, a section of the bridge upon its under side, over which bridge the -wires are strained by theswrest pins -c c; the wrest pin block is so situated and arranged, as shown in the drawing, as to allow the wrest pins to pass entirely through it, ltheir heads, whichreceive the tuning hammer, standing above said block, and their lower ends, around which the wires are wound, projecting below it. By passing the wrest pins entirely through the block in this manner they are held much more firmly, and consequently preserve the tension of the wires more perfectly, than under any other known arrangement. The action, andthe other parts of the instrument, excepting in' the manner of fixing the braces do not require description, ey being the .same or nearly the same, w1 h thoseA which have been ado ted in other piano fortes. For the expensive steel braces which have been used in some piano fortes, I substitute braces of wrought iron, which-I so construct, and combine with the instrument as to render them perfect-ly convenient and effective, while they are Aneat in their appearance and are supplied at little cost. d, d, are these braces, which are firmly screwed down to 'the wrest pin block at theii` fore -v ends d, and extend back to the cast iron straining pin plate e, upon which they rest, being secured .in place by means of a screw h, passing through them, and'throughthe plate e. They are three eighths of an inch .in thickness, and extend over a large portion of the wrest pin block as shown in the drawing., They have an offset, or are widene'dout, at :d2 where they bear upon -the back edge of the block, into which an iron plate f, is inserted to sustain their pressure. y

Eig. 2'is a top view of one of these braces exhibiting itin its proper dimensions,` as

the other parts of the instrument are represented in the drawings. ings by screws at thetwo ends of the braces,

Aas shown in the drawings, I pass screws Besides the fastenf the former and receive the piano forte wires at their lower, projecting ,'ends; the whole being arranged and operating substantially as set forth. v l

2.- I likewise cla'im the particular inanner of constructing, arranging and combin- Lng,`the'wrought iron braces with the wirest plank and straining board; ,said bracespassing over the yWrest pin block, bearing against its back edge, resting at their rear ends onthe straining pin plate e, and being formed,secured andoperating as herein set forth. l v FR. C. REICHENBACH..

Witnesses:

THEODOREA THURRY, CHARLES JUNGANoREAs. 

